In my view: Why mentoring is just one piece of the puzzle

Released a few weeks ago, all the language in the plan is right: nipping things in the bud, getting in early, helping young people back on the right track, making sure they get help, being around at the right time.

However, I thought that was part of what Connexions was meant to be about, especially the top sections of the triangle depicting the "universal service differentiated according to need". Obviously that intensive direct support in the middle ground and, at the apex, the active brokerage and referral for those young people with multiple difficulties never really happened.

I wonder how much those behind such ideas have made reference to past debates. There was once something called the Research, Policy and Practice Forum on Young People, which was part-funded by government. It dedicated one of its events to the idea of mentoring. Lord Warner, then chair of the Youth Justice Board, spoke of his leaning towards compulsory mentoring, which surprised many who thought the (possibly only) common feature of many forms of mentoring was its basis in a voluntary relationship. Lord Warner, as ever, defended his position robustly, although he conceded it "might require a bit of fancy footwork" to persuade others of his case.